i blame you, you, you, you and that dress of yours
by necking
Summary: Raven shrugs, then turns back to Clarke. "So you talked to her, and she saw your bra. Did you get her number?" Octavia stops cleaning to wait for Clarke's answer. "No," Clarke mutters, ashamed. Raven gasps. "No? How? She saw your bra!" - basically clarke works at a summer camp and at a chocolate store and keeps embarrassing herself in front of lexa
1. Chapter 1

It's July 23rd, the middle of summer vacation, and Clarke Griffin had settled into a small routine. Walk into _Grounders_ , scout the cafe to look for the cute girl she's been crushing on all summer, and then order her iced coffee. She sighs quietly when she realizes the cute girl is absent today. She waits in line with more bitter annoyance than what's appropriate, and glares at the man in front of her who tells her to "smile a little, princess."

Slipping her phone into her back pocket, she walks up to the counter to get ready to order her usual cup of iced coffee. She receives it a minute later, and frowns at the incorrect spelling of her name on her cup _again._ Reaching aimlessly for the door on her way out, she is quickly bowled over by an unknown force.

"Fuck, sorry!" Clarke says, knocking both herself and the person she just bumped into on their asses. She quickly clutches at her phone still in her back pocket, and groans when she realizes it won't turn on. _Look on the brightside, Griffin._ _At least that cute girl isn't here to see this,_ she thinks.

"It's okay, it's not that bad. At least nothing spilled on me," the stranger says.

Clarke looks up at the sound of the stranger's _very strong_ French accent, wondering if they'd spoken English at all. She almost screams when their eyes meet. _Oh God, it's the cute girl,_ Clarke panics.

"Y-yeah, that dress looks very expensive," Clarke laughs nervously. _Fuck, did that sound sarcastic?_

The stranger raises an eyebrow at her, further heightening Clarke's paranoia, before getting up to help the blonde.

"I'm Lexa," she introduces herself, once Clarke is standing.

"Clarke," she says, holding her hand out to shake Lexa's hand. "Sorry for knocking you over."

"Again, it's okay, nothing spilled on me. I can't say the same for you though," she says, gesturing to the front of Clarke's _white top,_ which was now see-through.

Clarke flushes an even deeper red, "g-gotta go! Kane! Murder!" She says quickly, rushing out of the cafe before Lexa can say anything else.

"O, give me your sweater _now_ ," Clarke says, running into work a minute before the camp director, _Kane,_ can murder her for tardiness.

Octavia pouts, "this is my favourite sweater!"

" _Please._ Look at me," Clarke says, gesturing to the very large brown stain on her shirt, "and I've got to work a double shift today- one here, and one at the store. Plus, as you can already tell, I didn't have any caffeine today!"

Octavia frowns, but hands Clarke her sweater anyway, "yeah, what happened? It looks like someone shat all over your chest. I mean, I'm not kink shaming or anything."

"I bumped into that cute girl at _Grounders,"_ she mumbles.

"What?"

But before Clarke could elaborate, roll call was starting, and she hadn't changed yet. "I'll tell you later," Clarke promises.

Octavia sighs, but makes Clarke swear on her pinky. "Later," she warns.

"Spill, Griffin." Octavia starts, once she's sure the craft room is free of campers. "How did you get that shit stain on your shirt, and what does it have to do with _Grounder Girl?"_

Clarke sighs. "I talked to her today," she starts.

They were cleaning up the craft room while the campers were away at lunch, so no one was particularly watching their language.

"Holy shit, seriously, Clarke? I knew you could grow some balls!" Raven says, dropping her broom in the process

"Her name's Lexa," Clarke continues.

"Lexa, huh?" Octavia asks. "So what, did she shit all over your chest?"

"Ew, gross, O," Clarke grimaces. "No, I just bumped into her on my out of the cafe, and spilled my iced coffee all over myself."

Raven smirks. "So, she saw your bra, then? What is that, like, second base?"

"I'm pretty sure Lexa would have had to touch Clarke for that to be second base, Rae." Octavia says, matter-of-factly.

Raven shrugs, then turns back to Clarke. "So you talked to her, and she saw your bra. Did you get her number?"

Octavia stops cleaning to wait for Clarke's answer.

"No," Clarke mutters, ashamed.

Raven gasps. "No? How? She saw your bra!"

Clarke closes her eyes, defeated. "Well, when she noticed that my shirt was basically transparent, she pointed it out to me, and I got so flustered, I kind of yelled some biblical gibberish at her."

"What…? What did you say?"

"I said something like, 'late! Kane! Murder!' and then took off. She probably thinks I'm crazy."

Her friends share a glance before laughing. "Jeez, Clarke, you really screwed that up." Octavia says.

"It's not that bad… You might be able to still salvage this," Raven argues. "C'mon, what else did you find out about her?"

The blonde smiles, temporarily forgetting about her embarrassment. "Guys, she's French. She's got to have the strongest French accent I've ever heard in my life. I almost didn't understand her."

"And she's always wearing fancy clothes too? Clarke, you chose a fancy fuck."

She shoves Raven shoulder. "Shut up, she's not like that."

"Ooh, defensive already. I can't wait to be the maid of honour at your wedding."

Clarke throws a broken crayon at Raven's head.

"-Anyway, she's really pretty, and has the prettiest eyes-"

"-For Christ's sake Griffin, just ask her out!" Raven interrupts, annoyed.

It'd been a month since the _shit stain incident,_ as Octavia liked to call it, and Clarke still couldn't stop talking about Lexa.

"I… I can't." Clarke says, losing her excitement. Raven wanted to scream. They'd gone over this exact routine so many times, she'd lost count. Clarke gushes over Lexa, Raven tells her to talk to her again, and Clarke says she can't.

"Look, what've you got to lose? Tomorrow's the last day of camp, and after that, you've got morning shifts for the rest of summer over at Lindt. You know that tomorrow's your last shot to talk to her, so why don't you?"

Clarke purses her lips. She knows Raven's right, but what if? "What if she rejects me?"

"Well, you're probably never going to see her again, so why does it matter?" Raven says, leaving the room to get ready for lunch. Clarke knows the conversation is over.

 _Okay,_ Clarke thinks. _Tomorrow. Ask her out tomorrow._

Clarke enters the cafe with a purpose. She goes through her routine again, and double checks the cafe for Lexa. Her stomach drops when she finds that Lexa is absent again. _I was too late,_ she thinks, her confidence dropping. She makes her way to the counter to order her iced coffee one last time. Ears filled with the sound of the iced coffee machine spewing out her order, she misses the sound of the door chimes ringing.

She glances at her cup, bitterly smiling when she notices the barista only spelled her name right on her last day. As she turns around to make her way to the exit, she notices Lexa has stepped up to the counter to order. Clarke's eyes widen, now too shy and unprepared to talk to her again. She grips her cup harder and practically runs to the exit.

Before she can push the door open, though, she hears Lexa call out from behind her, "excuse me! Wait!"

Clarke freezes, heart beating a million a minute. She takes a step back and is greeted with the sight of Lexa walking towards her.

"Excuse me, you dropped this," Lexa says, handing her a napkin before making her way back to the counter.

The blonde frowns, not expecting that moment to have been so anti-climactic. She wants to scream for missing both her chances. Pushing the door open, she looks at the folded napkin Lexa handed her.

 _xxx-xxx-xxxx call me! x - Lexa_

Clarke blinks, unable to register the fact that she'd received Lexa's number. She pinches herself. _Not a dream._ Her face splits into a grin, unable to control her euphoria. She dances all the way to camp, excited to tell Raven and Octavia about her success.

For the first time all summer, Clarke is finally late. She runs onto the camp field, barely escaping Kane in the staff room, afraid of him noticing her tardiness.

"Rae! O! You'll never guess what!" Clarke says, holding the napkin over her head.

Suddenly, Jasper appears between her and her friends, "oh, thanks Clarke."

"For what?" She asks, confused, but she gets her answer when Jasper plucks the napkin in her hands to stop a camper's nosebleed.

"Jasper, no…" Clarke says, weakly.

It's only then that Raven and Octavia show up.

"What? What's up?" Raven asks, noticing Clarke, collapsed on the grass with her face in her hands.

The blonde moves her hand off her mouth so she isn't muffled, "Lexa gave me her number."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Octavia questions, confused.

Clarke nods, her face still covered, "yes, but it was on that napkin," she says, pointing to the camper's bleeding nose.

"Fuck," Raven mutters.

"Fuck is right," Octavia agrees, helping Clarke stand up.


	2. Chapter 2

Lexa walks into Lindt near closing time. She's always hated it when customers came in just as she was about to close, but she was desperate. The proposal was about to happen in twenty minutes, and she was missing the chocolates and photographer she promised to bring. When she reaches the counter, she realizes she forgot how to say "marshmallow" in English. _Zut_ , she thinks.

"How can I help you?" The employee asks tiredly.

"Hi... Do you happen to sell... Um... Chocolate with the... Guimauves?" She asks, hesitantly. She hopes the employee understands French, because Lexa left her phone at home. The employee stares at her blankly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Um... Chocolate... With guimauves? I'm sorry, I don't remember the term in English," Lexa replies sheepishly.

The cashier, Miller, it read on his name-tag, scratches his head.

"Is that French?" Miller asks.

"... Er... Yes."

"Okay, hang on, let me get my phone so I can translate."

Miller goes to the back to retrieve his phone. While there, he notices Clarke, who has just clocked out.

"Hey, Clarke," Miller says, "you speak French, right?"

Clarke nods yes, confused.

"There's a French customer out there," Miller continues, "look, I know you just clocked out, but would you mind dealing with her? I'll make it up to you." He promises.

Clarke clutches at her purse,already ready to leave, before agreeing. "Augh, fine," she groans.

She goes back to the front counter, out of her uniform. Despite so, she goes to help the customer. _Oh God, it's Grounder Girl… I wonder if she remembers me?_

"Hey," Clarke says, tentatively, "how can I help you?"

Lexa recognizes her as the girl from _Grounders_. But, she's in a rush, so she will deal with her slight crush on her later.

"Hi, could I get some chocolates with guimauves?" Lexa asks.

 _She doesn't remember me,_ Clarke thinks.

"Marshmallows?" She asks.

"Yes!" Lexa says, relieved, "I'm sorry, I just forgot the word in English. It is so rarely used in my life."

"It's fine," Clarke says, while wrapping up her order.

Lexa drums her fingers on the counter, feeling awkward around Clarke. After all, she hadn't called her back. "Do you even work here?" Lexa asks.

"Er... Yes?" Clarke laughs, slightly confused.

 _Was that rude?_ Lexa thinks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you... It's just, you aren't wearing a uniform? So it was a little curious to me."

Clarke looks down at her clothes.

"Yeah, actually, I just finished my shift, but my boss said you needed help with French, so naturally, he asked me to stay behind."

"Oh... I'm sorry about that."

Clarke hands her the chocolates. Lexa takes them from her and walks towards the door. Before she can reach it, she realizes she still hasn't gotten a photographer for the proposal. Desperate, she turns to Clarke once again.

"Hey, this is a little strange, but do you like taking photos? Like, are you by any chance a... What do they call it? Photographer?"

Clarke looks at her, once again confused.

"Uh... I guess you could say that?" She laughs nervously. _That was a weird question... Is she dangerous?_ She thinks to herself.

"I'm sorry, but would you mind doing me one more favour?"

 _Oh no, that sounds especially sketchy._ "Er... I don't know, that depends. What do you need?"

"Well... I needed these specific chocolates because my almost-brother-in-law is about to propose in the square in..." She looks at her watch. "Five minutes. Would you mind taking photos? It won't take long, I promise." And, as an afterthought, she adds, "I would do it myself, but I need to play violin."  
She holds up her violin case and roses as proof.

 _Okay... Either this is a really elaborate scheme for her to steal my internal organs, or she's actually harmless... I'll just text Octavia to let her know I'll be home a little later._

"Okay, sure. Let me just text my friend to let her know that I'll be home a little later." She agrees.

"Great!" Lexa beams at her, and Clarke is once again stunned by her smile. Lexa hands her the camera.

 **Griffin (23:49):** just saw Lexa, will b home a lil late. if im not home by 130 call the cops

 **O (23:50):** grounder girl? i think the closest ull get to dying r les petites morts if u get my drift ;)

"Okay, we gotta run a little bit, do you mind? I'm just running a little late."

"Oh, sure, it's fine." Clarke says, still a little flustered from Octavia's text.

They run to the middle of the square. Lexa points to where Clarke should stand, and she joins the remaining three members of the string quartet. They immediately fall in together to play a song. A very pretty woman appears about ten seconds later, with an equally gorgeous man guiding her towards the quartet. Clarke snaps as many photos as possible.

"Anya, veux-tu m'épouser?" The man asks. Lexa quickly hands him the flowers without disrupting the song. The woman says yes after a minute of crying, and the couple begin to kiss for what seem like hours. Clarke continues to take photos, but she is getting antsy. She needs to take the bus home, since her parents are on vacation, and Octavia can't drive.

Finally, the couple break the kiss, and Lexa's now-brother-in-law puts the ring on her finger. The party cheers. Lexa breaks from the party and walks towards Clarke.

"I'm sorry that took a little longer than expected. How are you getting home?" She asks.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I gotta go now, though, because the last bus is coming really soon." Just as she is about to run, Lexa grabs her arm,"it's almost 1:00! I can drive you home?"

"Er... I mean, we just met? I don't know if that's safe?"

"Oh. You don't trust me?" Lexa smiles at her. "Look, I'll give you the keys. Can you drive? I'll close my eyes the whole time." She says.

Clarke thinks about it, but ultimately caves in the end.

"Alright, you can drive me home."

Lexa smirks, but frowns when she notices it's about 12 degrees out. And Clarke's only wearing a t-shirt. Lexa slips her tuxedo jacket around her shoulders. She was getting hot, anyway.

"Thanks," Clarke says.

Just as they are about to walk away, Anya stops them.

"Lexa, est-ce que ça c'est ta copine?" She asks her.

She blushes. "N-non, non, Anya, elle est juste u-"

"Prenez un photo!" Anya exclaims, excited to embarrass Lexa. She hands Lexa her flowers for the photo.

Lexa turns to Clarke, "look, um... Anya wants us to take a photo. Is that okay?"

Clarke laughs. "Sure thing."

Lexa hands her the flowers. "Could you hold these? I feel like Tuxedo Mask holding them in this outfit."

Clarke takes them, and Lexa puts her arm around her. The Polaroid camera flashes, and Anya hands her the photo. Lexa tries to give back the flowers, but she retorts, "non, donnes ces fleures à ta petite amie," she whispers. She sighs and smiles at her. "Merci, Anya."

Turning to Clarke, she says,

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, where did you park?"

They finally reach her car.

"Okay, did you actually want to drive? Because you can, if you want. I mean, as long as you legally can?"

"No, that's okay. You can drive." Clarke says, yawning.

Lexa nods, and opens the door for Clarke. There's a small beat of silence as Lexa runs over to the driver's side and settles into her seat.

"Listen, I'm not sure if you remember this, but last week you gave me your number, and-"

"It's okay, Clarke," Lexa interrupts. "I know when to stop my advancements, I just wanted to drive you home so you could be safe."

Clarke shakes her head quickly. "No, no, Lexa. I just wanted to tell you I lost your number at work, I mean, it was used for someone's nose-bleed, and-"

"-Oh." Lexa says. She turns to start the ignition, but the movement is choppy, and Lexa isn't looking at her anymore. Clarke sighs. Lexa doesn't believe her.

"It's this one?" Lexa asks.

"Yeah, 48." She stops on the curb.

"Can I walk you to your porch?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Okay, wait."

"What?" She asks, but Lexa's already slammed the door closed. She runs around to the back so that Clarke can't see what she's doing, then, she opens Clarke's door for her. Blushing, Clarke thanks her. They walk in silence to her front door.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again," Lexa says.

"The same to you," Clarke replies.

They stand there for a bit, awkwardly glancing at each other on Clarke's porch. Then, Lexa speaks, "try not to lose this one this time," she teases, handing the blonde the flowers from behind her back.

Before Clarke can properly react, Lexa's walking away. She looks at the flowers. Instead of a card, the Polaroid is in its place.

 _xxx-xxx-xxxx if you weren't falling for me when we first met, you better be now! ;) x - Lexa._ It reads.

Clarke blushes, realizing Lexa remembered the _shit stain incident._

She closes the front door behind her, making her way to her room.

Grabbing the tape on her vanity, she sticks the Polaroid onto her wall to ensure its safety.

It was a good night.


End file.
